Last month, Margaret told us about proposed King County Metro route changes that would eliminate the #26 local and change other bus routes in Wallingford and beyond. If you missed her earlier post, you can read it here.
Thanks to my colleague Judy, who attended one of the big public meetings downtown, I learned about a Wallingford Metro event taking place this Sunday at the QFC. It’s posted on the Metro calendar as well. Actually, the calendar says it’s an “information table” but by word-of-mouth it was called a meeting. At the very least, I hope there is a Metro representative present.
- What: Metro’s “Have A Say” information about proposed Metro changes
- Where: Wallingford QFC, 1801 North 45th Street
- When: Sun, November 13, 4pm – 6pm
- Cost: Depends on whether you’re also hungry.
Metro’s online description of the event:
“Wallingford Information Table. Metro will be changing the transit system in September 2012 to coordinate with Seattle’s new RapidRide C and D lines and to improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the transit system in communities such as Seattle, Burien, Des Moines, SeaTac, and Tukwila.”
But you probably want to know more than that. Get route-specific details on the Metro Get-In-The-Know website.
Not free Sunday? No problem. There’s a meeting and/or a table in Fremont Wednesday 11/9, UW and Queen Anne 11/10, and Greenwood 11/14. Specific times and locations are available on the Metro calendar.
I just got through doing a sample calculation of what this might mean for folks living north of 40th. If you took the #26 on its current route at, for example, 1:15 pm at 50th and Thackeray headed downtown, you would get to 3rd and Union at 1:45 pm, if it stayed on schedule. If the #26 is rerouted as they propose to take you to NE Campus Parkway so you can change to one of the 70’s headed in to town you would be able to get the #73 (according to Trip Planner) and be at 3rd and Union in the tunnel at 1:51 pm. Unless it were way off schedule, you would probably be able to catch that bus so this may represent a reasonable generalization – taking about 6 minutes longer. Folks have expressed a concern about being able to get a seat on the bus but I don’t have any information about how crowded the 70’s are at mid-day.
If you catch the #26 along 40th or in south Wallingford you would be expected to take the #31 or the replacement for the #30 to Fremont and change to the new #5 or new #18. The #5 will have 15 minutes between buses and the #18 20 minutes, mid-day. This could mean an up to a 20 minute wait in Fremont for your next bus. Because the #5 is coming all the way from Shoreline Community College I would expect it to be rather routinely off schedule like the #16 is now so any attempt by Metro to carefully schedule the interconnection seems doomed to fail. (Back a few years ago when I was taking the #5 somewhat regularly mid-day I found it to be on time only about one in four.) But once you get on the bus the trip to downtown from Fremont should take about the same time as at present. The #18 will go on Westlake and the #5 will take Dexter.
The #32 replacement for the #30 will go around the west side of Queen Anne to the Seattle Center rather than its current, more direct route on Westlake. That is said to be so Metro can improve “local” service on 15th Ave W, since the new D line Rapid Ride will be an express and will stop at fewer places along 15th NW.
The #30 and #31 will no longer serve 40th west of Wallingford or Stone south of 40th but will follow the current #26 route. If you are used to taking the #30 or #31 to 40th and Stone to change to the #16 in order to get to that end of downtown, you won’t be able to do that anymore. And taking the #30 to go to Seattle Center would no longer be reasonable.
The Community Council is exploring how Wallingford might respond. A meeting on the #26 may be held the 22nd or 23rd. Watch Wallyhood for details.
Wow, thank you Mike!
Mike,
Assuming both the #5 and #18 stay relatively on schedule but are inter=woven, you shouldn’t have to wait that long at 34th/Fremont.
Say the #5 comes at 0, 15, 30 and 45.
Then the #18 comes at 10, 30 and 50.
Your worst wait should be 15 minutes.
I recognize that buses are not often that precise 🙂
I believe the Westlake avoidance is trying to deal with highly inconsistent trip times due to Mercer construction as well.